“Missouri Dental Class of 1900”

MISSOURI DENTAL CLASS OF 1900

In the early days of October 1897, there assembled for matriculation at the Missouri Dental College, St. Louis, Missouri, a class of male individuals, ranging in age from the mature years of our esteemed and lamentably missed classmate, L. D. Jones, to the teens of our present youthful and sturdy Trauerneicht; in stature from the giant ex-policeman Hobson, to the dwarfed “Foetus” Leo Mandell; in avoirdupois from the monster 200 lb. “Baby” Johnnie Bey to the above named tiny human organism who has since the session of ’97-’8 carried its little grip backwards and forwards to the Marion Simms; in wisdom from those who through the three years course, by diligent and studious habits were able to prove themselves worthy of the degree of D.M.D., to the Solomon-like Obrook who at the time of his matriculation, according to his own statement, “Would not take five hundred dollars for his experience;” and lastly in the dexterity of some who could with facility slip an instrument from a classmate’s fingers without his knowing it, to that of others who could actually take and carry away a polishing lathe or dental engine before the eyes of the entire class and demonstrators without themselves being in the least suspected of theft.

This class was composed of members representing various occupations.  There were some fresh from the farm, with brawny arms and suntanned cheeks – living pictures of perfect health – who sought to delve into the lore of the dental profession with the delusive hope that after a time they could make a living easy.  There were some from the workshops, some from the stores, some from the school rooms, while only a comparative few were from the dental offices with five hundred dollars worth of experience.

Such was the class that entered upon the study of Dental Technique under the able instruction of Dr. Richardson, given in his characteristic droll manner; and heard the eloquent Dr. Bedell go over and over again the underlying principles of Mechanical Dentistry.

Such were they who sat in the amphitheater of the “Chicken Coop” and heard the musical voice of the able lecturer and pharmacist Mr. Masserang, as he turned page after page of his notes elucidating extensively the materia medica portion of Woods’ Therapeutics.

Of such was a great portion of the class in Anatomy composed, who, under the supervision of the worthy instructor Dr. Blair, dissected cats and the greater portion of the human body and heard the Descriptive Anatomy lectures, ably delivered and graphically illustrated by beautiful and accurate drawings by that esteemed and noble professor Dr. Tupper.

It was of this class the able Dr. Tuttle demanded a thorough knowledge of Dental Anatomy; and the ever pleasant and esteemed Dr. Budgett required an understanding of Elementary Histology.

And so the year passed and the final grades of each member stand as evidence of the work done during the session.

Vacation came and went and with it bore one member “to that bourne from whence no traveler e’er returns,” but at the opening of the session of ’98-’9 the majority of the class had returned to throw off the title of “Rednecks” which they had acquired during their junior year and take upon themselves that of Middlemen.  As the class now stood, though composed of a fewer number it was superior in quality as the new additions in the personages of Bauer, Bass, Dixon and Wavrin were worthy and welcome, while on the other hand many of the less studious members had of their own accord and otherwise dropped out and most of the sticky fingered ones had been eliminated.

Dean A. H. Fuller

Thus the work of the middle year was begun by a newly renovated class, who under the instruction of the eloquent lecturer, Dr. Senseny, learned to “Sink or Swim” in the stubborn subject of Therapeutics; and most of whom fulfilled the requirements in the difficult subject of Chemistry under the scholarly and gentlemanly Dr. Warren; and with pleasure attended the lectures given in Operative Dentistry by our present excellent and worthy Dean, Dr. A. H. Fuller; and in pity looked upon the poor anaesthetized dog strapped to the table, while the noted Physiologist Dr. Budgett stood by and at will caused the prostrate animal’s life blood to ascend and descend glass tubes standing erect from some of the poor creature’s severed blood vessels; or in astonishment beheld the brainless pigeon, mechanically flit from the hand of the professor as he tossed it in the air and aimlessly perch upon some object there to silently sit “staring starvation in the face.”

Dr. H. H. Mudd

We now come to that period in the history of the class when it gained the notorious name of “The Chronic Kickers.”  The mechanical work consisted chiefly in the repairing of artificial dentures and the construction of brass crowns, plates and bridges – there being in this but little practical work – while the operative work in the infirmary was done almost exclusively by the seniors at that time; consequently the Middlemen feeling that they should have more practical work both in the laboratory and infirmary, drew up that famous petition and presented it to the late Dr. H. H. Mudd, then Dean of the College; and it is to this fact, together with that of there being a larger clinic during the senior year, due chiefly to the kind and gentle treatment received by patients at the hands of the students and those excellent and gentlemanly demonstrators Drs. Vaughan, Cassell, Stephens and Teel, that the present middle class owe their gratitude for having done more practical work than was ever done by any middle class going through the Missouri Dental College since the adoption of the three years course.  But for the distribution of work among the middlemen from the opening of the present session to its close, the Class of 1900 could have fulfilled their requirements both in operative and mechanical work by the holidays.

After the close of the session of ’98-’9 and another vacation had passed, the class with but few exceptions reassembled to matriculate at the opening of the session just now at its close.

With light hearts and pocketbooks they entered upon their senior work, willing and anxious to comply with every requirement; and it has been said by good authority that the average grade for the three years made by the Class of 1900 is the highest ever made by any class graduating from the Missouri Dental College; and it to certainly a fact that their standard of morality, which will ever characterize them, is equal to, if not superior to that of any previous class, and is far superior to that of the recent graduating classes.

This class came nearer complying in detail with the requirements in Crown and Bridge work under the exacting instructor Dr. A. D. Fuller than any senior class he has ever had under his supervision; and that the work was accepted and credited is evidence that the class as a whole are thoroughly competent to construct crowns and bridges where they are indicated.

Another fact which will go down in the history of the Class of 1900 – and of which they should be proud – is that they, under the earnest and practical instruction of that great, among the greatest, Orthodontist of this country, Dr. Matteson of Chicago, are the first to graduate from the Missouri Dental College who as a class did real practical work in Orthodontia; and it is not too much to say that the majority of the class are able to construct the necessary appliances and attempt the correction of more or less complicated cases of irregularity immediately upon their entering practice.  They proved themselves so efficient and rapid in the construction of appliances that professional wire pullers were advertised for; but by the time these tradesmen came making application to see the “foreman” the members of the class themselves had drawn all the wire and had almost constructed the required number of appliances.

The excellences of this class being so great it will perhaps be of interest to give a brief account of each individual member that was fortunate enough to obtain his degree; and first in order is:

A. J. Bass

A. G. Bauer

Andrew Jackson Bass of Columbia, Boone County, Missouri.  Mr. Bass is one of the members who matriculated first during the middle year – having previously been a student of medicine and it was during this year that he learned cement was not mixed with water.  He was unanimously elected Senior Class President and he has demonstrated his football ability in bucking the center and running around the ends of measures which he opposed in the administration of his executive duties.

Mr. Bass during vacation following the middle year, even then proved himself competent to cope with any of the leading practitioners in the Indian Territory; and should he locate there he will no doubt readily establish himself as a professional dentist and command an extensive practice.

Alfred Gotfried Bauer of St. Louis, Missouri, is a graduate of the St. Louis School of Pharmacy and is another to begin the study of dentistry in the middle year of the present class.

Mr. Bauer is an exceptionally handsome young man and has proven himself as studious as handsome.  His “Hoochy Coochy” movement which he has naturally acquired during his long rein behind the drug counter, only makes the running of the dental engine an easy and untiring work for him; and it creates an impression upon some of the fairer sex that will make for him an extensive feminine practice and no doubt Dr. Bauer will prove himself equal to all occasions.

John E. C. Bey

John Emil Charles Bey of Perryville, Perry County, Missouri is a young man of rare intellectual and moral qualifications.  Mr. Bey having taken a “Post Graduate” course at Keises’ Mechanical School is thoroughly competent to do all mechanical work that may be presented to him.  He possesses an optimistic disposition and when questioned as to how he succeeded with a certain piece of work he will invariably answer, “All right, came out fine,” when at the same time he might have the identical piece of work under reconstruction.

In operative work Mr. Bey has the knack of soothing away pain he may have caused a patient, with numerous soft and gentle touches of his feminine-like finger tips; and with a constant whispering in the ear of his patient of sweetly accented syllables, at the same time carrying on the operation.

Mr. Bey has proven his superiority over any other student in the length of time he is able to hold patients – having until recently had some under treatment since early last summer.  It is fair to presume that Mr. Bey will tenaciously hold on to all the practice he may succeed in building up.

W. B. Dickson

F. J. Dunn

H. E. Ferrell

Wesley Baxter Dickson is another member joining the class in the middle year.  Mr. Dickson though boyish in appearance is mature in years, he being one of the married men of the class.  Though short in stature it is remarkable how he can tiptoe and with his clubfist, mallet in gold fillings with a degree of neatness and accuracy that won for him the honor of being among the best operators of the class, if not the best.

Mr. Dickson has a very scrutinizing eye for detecting cavities in teeth.  Upon one occasion he assured a patient she had a number of cavities in her upper teeth and was about to begin the work of excavating when much to his astonishment the lady removed from her mouth a full upper plate of artificial teeth.

Freeland Joseph Dunn of St. Louis, Missouri, familiarly known in College circles as “Papa Dunn” which name he no doubt acquired from his elderly and fatherly bearing.  Mr. Dunn has been an earnest and energetic student and has displayed a bull-dog courage in hanging on to every undertaking until he became its master.  “Papa Dunn” is very popular with the 16-year old lasses who visit the clinic, he having had daily during his senior year a host of them flocking about seeking his professional services.

Houston Everett Ferrell of Lois, Maries County, Missouri, is one of the farmer boys who at the time of his matriculation as a junior was as the riddle goes “Green as grass and grass he was not” etc., and as most farmer boys, rapidly worked his way to the front where he has kept himself all through the college course.  Mr. Ferrell for some reason has a great “stand in” with the Policemen of the city.  It is said that he with one of his friends were out one night and for some unexplainable reason got lost and halted a policeman saying, “Hello Cop!  Who are we, where are we and Hic! where are we going?”  But notwithstanding all this Mr. Ferrell came before the faculty with a flattering recommendation from a sergeant of police.

John Michael Hartmann of St. Louis, Missouri, is a young man noted for his quiet and gentlemanly demeanor.  Mr. Hartmann having the ability to write shorthand rapidly has the advantage over his fellow classmates in examinations; for with a few crooked marks and dots upon his fingernails he has a spirited pony all saddled upon which to mount and ride through the most difficult examination in the most stately manner.

Albert William Heitzig, another of St. Louis’ brainy young men, has outranked his classmates in theoretical work and no doubt will be awarded for his excellent standing.  Mr. Heitzig’s skill as an artist will ever be remembered and appreciated by his fellow classmates.  His off-hand drawings of “All aboard for Hoppies” and “A Trip Down the Chicago River” are familiar to all who had occasion to frequent the plaster room.  His drawings bear such a striking resemblance to the object drawn, that he must have been in his younger days the boy who drew the picture of a fly on paper and pasted it to the desk of his near-sighted school mistress.  And when as she thought she perceived a fly on her desk she made repeated attempts to brush it off; and finding herself the victim of the boy artist’s mischievousness, she called him up and asked him why he had taken advantage of her nearsightedness to give vent to his mischievous nature.  He shyly pointed up to real fly on the ceiling and said “Do you see that fly up there?”  “Yes!” said she.  “Well, you weren’t nearly as bad fooled as that fly, for it lighted down here three times making love to this one.”

J. M. Hartmann	A. W. Heitzig	R. O. Hirschi	E. L. Horton	M. W. Isle

Leonard Quirin Henry, a description of whose physical makeup is identical with that given to Ichabod Crane in Washington Irving’s famous “Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”  “He is tall but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangle a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might serve for shovels and his whole frame most loosely hung together.  His head is small and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes and a long snipe nose, so that it looks like a weathercock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blows.  To see him striding along the streets on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might mistake him for the genius of famine descended upon the earth.”  Mr. Henry cannot be classed with Ichabod as a singing master however, for he certainly outranks him; and it may be years before the halls of Old Missouri Dental College will again resound with as deep and musical tones as those of Mr. Henry.

Robert O. Hirschi of St. Louis, Missouri, the only “Rabbi” of the class – the chief of the famous “Chop House and Hoppe Gang” who can put on such a sober face and innocent look that when caught in the very act of perpetrating some mischievous deed he succeeds in leading his captors to concur with him in his innocence.  “Rabbi” has a familiar saying that, “It’s the little things that make the big things.”  He may be able to prove the truth of this assertion by using himself as an example.

Edward Linn Horton of Farmington, Missouri, is a young man of studious habits and gentlemanly demeanor and is about the only member accompanying his application for a degree with a conscientious recommendation from a minister of the gospel, which is evidence that Mr. Horton is a model young man at home or he and the preacher have a mutual understanding.

Mauzey Whitfield Isle is the oldest man of the class and being a married man will have no occasion to spend his time and hard earned money in quest of a “help mate;” but he can carry on his work as merrily as he has during his college course filling the air about him with strains of that sweet melody which he so much loves to sing – something after this fashion: “I feel like I feel like I feel,” etc.

H. A. Kehde

J. H. Kraft

J. E. Long

Howard Augustus Kehde of St. Louis, Missouri,
        Whose cheeks are as red as a full blown rose,
Whose hair is as black as ink,
        Whose dark eyes look out by a prominent nose,
Which shades his lips of pink.
        His form is like the stately oak,
Tall erect and grand;
        He towers above his classmates,
A perfect ladies man.

Louie Henry Kraft of Collinsville, Illinois, has a Sauerkraut physiognomy which at once betrays his nationality.  His powerful intellect can only be measured by his capacity of holding beer.  Louie is a good workman and thorough student however and a fairly good “dutchman” in general.

Joseph Elmer Long is another of the students whose grades are at the top.  Mr. Long has rather an inquisitive nature and upon one occasion while observing a gold filling being put in around a platinum pin, he asked the student performing the operation, “Is that a pin in there?”  “Yes!” said the student.  “Well, how are you over going to get the pin out when the filling is in?”

Benno Edward Lischer of Mascoutah, Illinois, is a young man of German descent but he says he talks much better English than Louie Kraft and some of those other follows.

He has a great liking for science and says he feels almost worthy of the B.S. degree.  He has the ability to quote more scientific authors and their theories than any other man in the class.  Upon one occasion Mr. Lischer advised a certain student to take a few lessons in science before wasting too much time discussing religious topics.  In reply Mr. Lischer was told to take a few lessons in fighting fire before his time came to die.

B. E. Lischer

Mr. Lischer at one time thought himself immune from contagious diseases.  He said – “I bathe regularly, eat wholesome food, keep regular hours, wear clean clothes and I’m not much afraid of contracting any contagious disease and therefore I’m not going to be vaccinated.”  But after recovering from a severe attack of measles, Mr. Lischer was willing to be vaccinated – thinking, since he was not immune from measles, he might not be immune from small pox.

Eugene McGuire of Cottonwood, Illinois, is a painstaking careful workman and however slow he may be it is all in keeping with his Irish name.  One day during Mr. McGuire’s middle year he worked from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. putting in a small gold filling in a central incisor of a young lady and when the operation was finished each looked hungry enough to eat the other, for not a bite of dinner had either of them had.  Mr. McGuire is a much more rapid operator now however and he perhaps will have no occasion to starve any patient hereafter.

E. McGuire	E. H. Matkin	C. L. Merriwether	J. B. Pettibone

Elmer Hicks Matkin of Farmington, Missouri, has done perhaps as much if not more correction of irregular teeth than any other member of the class.  He has a great love for Orthodontia and believes in Dr. Matteson’s rule that irregularities in teeth can be corrected whatever the age of the patient.  Only recently Mr. Matkin corrected the teeth of a widow of about forty winters, and so earnest was he in the work that he did not depend upon the patient’s coming to the college but went himself to her home and did the work.  He reports the operation very satisfactory and a thorough success but that he shall keep the retaining appliance on until the close of school anyway, and perhaps longer, even though it should necessitate his coming back to the city to remove it.

Charles Lewis Merriwether and Jacob Block Pettibone, like the Siamese twins, must be spoken of together.  So intimately have they been associated during their college course that frequent mistakes have been made in speaking their names – being called Merribone and Pettiwether.  These gentlemen are very unlike in their characteristics and it must be in accordance with the law of Physics that “like repel and unlike attract” the reason for the affinity the one has for the other.  One is independent and outspoken, the other dependent and reserved; the one bold and daring, the other backward and cautious; one self confident the other not; in short, what the one has the other hasn’t and so through three long years they have lived, acted and moved in the same circle.

        [Missing page in manuscript]

J. A. Wavrin

A. W. Wolf

C. Wycoff

H. T. Wood

John Arthur Wavrin is the inquisitive Bohemian of the class who is accused of being the ring leader in almost every mischievous act done about the college.  However much Mr. Wavrin deserves criticism for his school-boy pranks, he has been wrongfully pointed out a few times.

For some reason Mr. Wavrin has been given the names “Smokey” and “Spinage” and he seems as proud of these titles as a peacock is of his tail.

“Smokey” is a jolly good natured fellow and makes himself one of the boys.  It was told on him, that one night while he was out having a little fun he saw a lot of candy strung up like beads in a window and he exclaimed “Come on boys, let’s got some of this tape-worm candy!”

Albert William Wolf; and a long lean, lank, hungry looking wolf he is.  Mr. Wolf is another of the boys on any occasion.  One of his familiar expressions is “Come on boys, going down the line now.”  When Mr. Wolf first saw the Union Station he wondered awhile and then said, “Pa, I’ll bet this thing cost a thousand dollars.”

Charles Wycoff of Alton, Illinois, is one of the sweetest little boys of the class.  Even the ladies on the street call him honey and sweet and dear and such like; but Charlie doesn’t let people make a fool of him by petting him.  He always goes straight to school and straight home again and stays in at night like a good little boy should.

Last but not least is Harry Thomas Wood of Moberly, Missouri.

        From early morn to dusky eve
He sat upon his easy stool,
        Smoking that pipe, you’d scarce believe
He had when he first entered school.
        With graceful case and contented mien,
He has smoked and worked away;
        Making plates all dappled and clean
To put in a show case some day.
        Ah, thought Mr. Wood, with a dignified air,
As he polished his plates to a shine,
        I’ll prove to the world, if fortune be fair,
There’s an excellence in plate work of mine.